(Back at the open area in the underground excavation site, Jax, Proxy, and Pulse confront Infinity and his masked soldiers, with Stone on his knees, glancing around in shock. The soldiers keep aiming their weapons at the trio in this tense moment, who look around at the soldiers with stern expressions in this deafening silence. However, Infinity signals his soldiers to lower their weapons. The masked soldiers hesitate for a little but firmly nod and lower their weapons, to the trio’s surprise, who don’t let their guard down despite that. Infinity then glances back at Jax, Proxy, and Pulse, his expression unreadable as ever under the mask, which only annoys Jax further.)

  Jax: (gritting his teeth) Cut the crap. Who the heck are you?

  Infinity: It matters not who we are, but rather what we represent. What stands before you is no mere name, no mere individual. It’s an idea, a cause, a vision. That’s what I represent. You Aegis operators, on the other hand, embody the tragic nature of expendability, mere cogs in a rotten system destined to fail.

  Pulse: (sternly) You know about Aegis, don’t you?

  Infinity: More than anyone else. It shouldn’t come as a shock to you anymore. Lots of people know about you. It’s just that I’m the only one willing to act on that knowledge. (to Stone) Make up your mind, Stone. The opportunity is beckoning.

  Jax: (baffled, glancing at Stone) It’s you! What’re you doing here?!

  (Stone grits his teeth and clenches his fists as he stays on his knees and glances at the ground, with the trio keeping their guard up with tense expressions. Having already been sick of this, Jax and Pulse take their fighting stances, while Proxy activates her Tech Surge and launches several missiles at Infinity’s soldiers, but to her shock, several shadow-like blasts destroy the missiles at once, then three shadow tendrils appear out of nowhere from behind the trio and incapacitate them, slamming them into the ground.)

  Proxy: (through gritted teeth) Is that… his Surge?

  (Jax, Proxy, and Pulse attempt to break free through gritted teeth, but the grip of the shadow tendrils only tightens further. Ever so calm and steady, Infinity approaches Stone, who slowly stands up while glancing at the ground, gritting his teeth and clenching his fists, and then he gets close to him and whispers something to him.)

  Infinity: (whispering to Stone) All it takes to change the world, Stone, is the will of man. Do you wish to change the world? Will you represent the detrimental, self-serving system… or the revolution?

  (Stone glances up at Infinity with a firm scowl and finally places his palm on the Catalyst presented to him. The purple infinity sign on Infinity’s face widens then glows as the Catalyst starts whirring with energy, which Jax, Proxy, and Pulse — incapacitated and held by the shadow tendrils — watch in shock. Suddenly, Stone finds himself overwhelmed by an intense, brown, electric aura, forcing him to his knees as he yells in pain, which doesn’t faze Infinity at all, who keeps holding the Catalyst and energizing it. The soldiers step back away from Stone as he starts powering up further, which starts another rumbling in the area.)

  Infinity: (passionately) Bear it, Stone! Suffering is what the cause requires, what we all need to break this cursed cycle! You’ll wield that power… and crush the opposition with untamed might! This is your awakening!

  (The core of the Earth deep underground starts charging up with green sparks of energy, influenced by the supercharged Catalyst, and this forms another round of energy shockwaves all over the underground site. It’s even felt back where Jackpot and Mistrick — both incapacitated and unconscious — lay, the energy shockwaves so strong it snaps them back into consciousness, and they immediately wake up in shock.)

  Mistrick: (panting, glancing around in shock) Okay, so I just woke up, and now this happens?! What did I miss?!

  Jackpot: (unamused) Listen, I understand the existential crisis you’ve having… (exasperated) BUT CAN YOU PLEASE SET ME FREE?!

  (Meanwhile, the impact is also felt back at Flare and Focus’s clash with Boltix, the energy shockwave disorienting the three of them and putting the fight to a halt. They glance at their surroundings in shock as the energy shockwaves keep on coming, which is then coupled with a giant rumbling.)

  Boltix: (shocked) Another one?!

  Focus: (gritting his teeth) It’s happening again, and I’m certain we can’t ignore this for long. (to Boltix) Hey, we gotta check this out! You coming along or what?!

  Boltix: (nonchalantly grinnin) It’s not what I’m paid for, pal. If you really wanna know what’s going on, then try turning yourself in.

  Flare: (shrugging) No, thanks. I’d rather kick your butt instead.

  Focus: (annoyed) Not you too! Listen, this could be catastrophic for all we know! You wanna wait to find out what could happen?! (to Boltix) Do you even know what happened to your teammates?!

  (Boltix opens his mouth in realization, remembering that he hasn’t established contact with any of them. He grits his teeth in annoyance but sighs deeply and firmly nods, turning to head off through the tunnel and lead the way. Focus follows behind with a navy blue trail, while Flare rolls her eyes and follows behind them with a fiery trail. Meanwhile, as Stone keeps powering up in pain, the ground underneath him starts cracking from the sheer force of his calamitous transformation. His pupils completely fade, and his eyes adapt a brown energy glow. The energy spike in Proxy’s watch intensifies even further, and she uncovers a shocking revelation.)

  Proxy: (shocked) That power… it’s at the level of a Surge Beacon! Could he actually be one of them?!

  Jax: But how?! He doesn’t have a Surge!

  Infinity: (passionately) But Surge Energy flows through him nonetheless, just like all living things! In fact, his reserves far surpass what is known to you! He just needed the lid to manifest that energy into power, and that’s what I’m providing! The key to achieving this great potential! Now… he’ll awaken the Surge that has long since been dormant deep inside his soul, the Surge that was forced upon him! The Earth Surge!

  (The rumbling and the energy shockwaves intensify even further as Stone finally stops yelling, slowly starting to stand up on his feet, gritting his teeth and clenching his fists in pure rage. With Stone ready for battle as an uncontrollable Surge Beacon, Infinity calmly turns around and extends his energized palm, opening a portal with it.)

  Infinity: (to Stone) Show me what you do best… then meet me at the surface.

  (The Infinity’s masked soldiers step into the portal and leave in groups, and the shadow tendrils holding down Jax, Proxy, and Pulse dissipate as the Infinity approaches the portal as well. Proxy and Pulse glance around in shock, but with no hesitation whatsoever, Jax lunges at Infinity in an attempt to stop him. However, Stone receives his punch with his forehead, unfazed at all, and then he manipulates the ground underneath him, extending a rod of rock at Jax’s gut, sending him flying. He gets back up on his feet and grits his teeth as he sees the all-powerful Stone standing before him with a firm scowl, while Infinity makes his way to the portal, slightly turning to face Jax.)

  Infinity: You want to know the truth, Muscle Surge? Follow the breadcrumbs… and you’ll find out.

  (Infinity passes through the portal as it closes, reappearing back at the surface on top of a plateau, his soldiers waiting for him. He then approaches the edge of the plateau and glances at the excavation site in anticipation, the purple infinity sign on his mask narrowing as the site somehow appears to have begun its collapse. Back underground, Jax, Proxy, and Pulse are left to deal with Stone, now with the Earth Surge and as powerful as a Surge Beacon, and they take their firm fighting stances.)

  Stolen novel; please report.

  Jax: (gritting his teeth) We gotta put him down. I don’t know how we could possibly do that, but we gotta do it.

  (Proxy and Pulse nod at him and get ready with their Surges, with Jax too unleashing his muscular form. However, before they get to lunge at him, the ground underneath them collapses entirely, sending the three of them falling, while Stone stands on a rocky platform that descends to them, an intense, brown, electric aura around him with several pieces of debris swirling around him, thus starting the fight. He launches the debris at the falling trio, but Proxy uses her jetpacks to maintain control midair and blasts away the debris with her tech. Jax manages to reach out to Pulse and grab her hand then carries her in his arms and lands safely on the ground with his muscular legs. However, with Proxy being distracted by the debris launched at her, Stone punches her in the gut and sends her crashing through a wall.)

  Jax: Prox!

  (Stone stands before her and traps her by controlling the rubble, making her unable to stand up. Pulse arrives at the scene, her fist glowing with green energy, and attempts to land a punch at him and activate a debuff, but Stone easily holds down her fist, his scowl unwavering.)

  Pulse: (gritting her teeth) Buff: Adrenal Sync.

  (This moves buffs up both Proxy and Jax, the latter arriving from behind. Pulse’s increased heartbeat is directly synced with her allies, increasing their strength, stamina, and reflexes the faster her heart beats. This enables Jax to land the blow on Stone, sending him flying. With him no longer controlling the rubble, Proxy manages to blast it away and break free. Pulse doesn’t stop, though, and keeps on running around and exerting effort, increasing the rate of her heartbeat to further strengthen her allies. Jax and Proxy lines at Stone once again, the latter launching several blasts at him, but he isn’t fazed by this at all, taking on the blasts like they’re nothing.)

  (He then charges up his palms with energy and lifts the ground underneath him, disorienting Jax, Proxy, and Pulse and knocking them off balance. With this entire layer of rock getting lifted, every other layer above it collapses, causing a huge load of rubble that rains down on the trio. Jax valiantly punches away the rubble time and time again to shield both himself and his friends, but the sheer amount around only benefits Stone and his Earth Surge, and he strikes Pulse with a giant, energized chunk of rock, sending her flying. Because of that blow, the buff Pulse placed on her allies ends up being canceled out.)

  Pulse: (thinking to herself, gritting her teeth) I can’t maintain my buff anymore. How powerful is this guy?!

  (Stone keeps launching large pieces of rubble at Jax and Proxy, now without their buff, and the two find themselves overwhelmed by the sheer amount of debris Stone can access, which only increases with every layer of rock they crash through. He even forms two large staffs of rock and strikes Jax in the face with them, knocking him off balance, then he follows that with a strike at his gut, sending him crashing through a wall.)

  Pulse: Jax!

  (As Jackpot and Mistrick run off through a tunnel to catch up with what’s going on amidst the loud rumbling, the ground underneath them suddenly collapses, and they fall into the scene, seeing none other than Stone causing that madness, who punches Proxy in the face and sends her flying through the wall along with Jax. Flare, Focus, and Boltix inadvertently drop down at the scene in bafflement as well as a result of those circumstances. Pulse notices Focus’s presence, while he remains rather clueless to hers, but before she gets to call out for him, she gets struck in the gut by a giant, rectangular piece of rock and sent flying through a wall. Meanwhile, the Sparks react with shock as they land on their feet and confront the berserk Stone.)

  Boltix: (shocked) Stone?! Is that you?! What’re you doing?! And… what is that power?!

  (Stone doesn’t respond, his scowl unwavering, and he immediately launches another wave of debris at his team, who immediately jump out of the way in shock. Mistrick gets taken by surprise and punched in the face by Stone’s hardened fist, sending her flying into a wall, and before he manages to move in for another blow, Jackpot launches a missile at him, not to deal any damage, but rather to grab his attention.)

  Jackpot: What’s gotten into you, man?! Snap out of it!

  (Stone aggressively lands on the ground, causing an even louder rumbling. Not only that, but the underground area in its entirety starts to exhibit signs of collapse, the ceiling starting to drop pebbles. He lunges at Jackpot for a blow, who was disoriented by the loud rumbling, but Boltix manages to swoop in and pull him out of the way, while Flare shows up at Stone’s right and attempts a fireball at him. However, he easefully cancels it out and then turns his attention to Flare.)

  Flare: (grimacing) Okay, I’ve got a bad feeling about this.

  (Stone immediately lunges at Flare, several debris revolving around him, but she propels herself to the right with her palms then takes a firm fighting stance. Meanwhile, Pulse too ends up falling into a pit of rubble with Jax and Proxy, unable to rejoin the action so easily.)

  Jax: (gritting his teeth) Is that truly how powerful a Surge Beacon is?!

  Pulse: (grimly) I saw Focus. He’s here.

  Jax: Say what?! Where?!

  Pulse: He’s still up there. If we somehow meet up with him, then we can make a run for it.

  (Proxy immediately uses her tech to implant jetpacks into Jax and Pulse, who react to this in bafflement. She firmly nods at the two with a smirk then flies off with her own jetpacks, and the duo fly off with theirs as well. Meanwhile, Flare repeatedly propels herself left and right in an attempt to confuse Stone and find an opening to attack, but when she moves in for a blow, Stone unleashes a rock barrier from the ground that cancels out the blow, and then he launches it at her, sending her skidding back. As he moves in for another blow, Flare ducks, allowing Focus to show up and jump past her, landing a roundhouse kick at Stone and sending him skidding back.)

  Focus: (grimly) This man… he’s displaying a level of strength comparable to the most powerful Surge Beacons. Where did that come from?

  (Stone launches another wave of debris at them, and the two dodge the rubble launched at them as they lunge at him. However, the rocks blow up into dust, momentarily blinding the two. He pounces on the opportunity and punches Flare in the gut, sending her flying, but as he turns to deal a blow to Focus, Boltix arrives at the scene and attempts to kick him in the nape. However, his body suddenly gives out, his Kinetic Surge taking its toll on him. As a result, he gets sent flying upwards when Stone launches a tile of ground from under his feet.)

  Boltix: (thinking to himself, gritting his teeth) Why does this always happen at the worst of times?!

  (He’s no longer able to even stand on his feet, forced to lay on the ground in pain to recover. Meanwhile, Focus quickly dodges the projectiles launched at him, adapting his navy blue aura. As he closes in on Stone, he punches away a cluster of rocks coming at him and quickly dodges a punch from him. Despite his otherwise impressive reflexes, he deals not a single blow to Stone, constantly forced on the defensive. Stone lunges at him again, launching even more clusters of rocks around him, which grants Focus an opening for attack.)

  Focus: (thinking to himself) There.

  (However, the rocks launched all around him suddenly extend and form full-on angular pillars all around, passing through both the ground and the ceiling and accelerating the collapse of the site, which barely holds itself together. Focus is shocked by this and finds himself unable to dodge a pillar projectile that strikes his gut and pushes him into a wall, but he uses both his arms and legs to push back against the pillar. Jackpot and Mistrick lunge at him in an attempt to contribute in any way, but the ground they’re running on cracks, knocking them off balance, and then they’re slammed to the ground and incapacitated by two rock pillars. Boltix too is forced to the ground by a rock pillar.)

  Boltix: (annoyed, groaning in pain) Hey, that was unnecessary! I can’t move anyway!

  (Even Jax, Proxy, and Pulse — who were running through a tunnel in an attempt to catch up with what’s going on — get struck by the ground underneath them and knocked off balance, then three more rock pillars slam them to the ground and hold them in place.)

  Proxy: (gritting her teeth in pain) What… is that?!

  (They grit their teeth and attempt to break free, but the force holding them down is too much to bear; even Jax’s muscular form emits steam and can no longer be sustained. Meanwhile, Flare bounces back and confronts Stone, seeing that he’s trapped everyone else in his pillars. She grits her teeth and propels herself upwards while charging up several fireballs.)

  Flare: (gritting her teeth) Eat this!

  (However, the ceiling above her surprisingly is dragged down and strikes her back, knocking her off-balance, and then Stone launches yet another rock pillar at her, pushing her all the way into a wall to finally crush her. She resists with her palms and legs, heating them up with flames as she grits her teeth in pain. Her resistance doesn’t help much, and she struggles to push back for long while seeing everyone else about to be crushed.)

  Flare: (gritting her teeth, thinking to herself) Crushed to death?! Is this really how I’m supposed to go out?!

  (As she starts to give in to the enormous force of the rock pillar, her hair starts glowing and turning into a darker shade of red, and her aura starts shifting into crimson flames. She reacts in shock and horror, knowing what that is, but she can’t help it anymore. Just as the pillar fully crushes her, she pierces through it like an arrow and dashes at Stone, punching him in the face with a fiery fist, to everyone’s shock. A wide, wicked smirk forms on her face, and her pupils turn dark red. Red Flare… has awoke.)